Pill splitters are well known in the prior art, have been in existence for many years. Examples are found in U.S. Patent Nos. U.S. Pat. No. 05,944,243, U.S. Pat. No. 02,655,259, U.S. Pat. No. 03,517,871, U.S. Pat. No. 04,173,826 , U.S. Pat. No. 04,179,806, U.S. Pat. No. 04,473,192, and U.S. Pat. No. 05,118,021. The devices described therein, as well as the other pill splitters currently available, perform a valuable function. The amount of medication required by individuals varies widely, and the dosage provided by pharmaceutical manufacturers is generally limited to at most a few different pill sizes.
Many pills have a disc shape, and are often scored in the middle to allow the pill to be easily split in half, in the event that the patient only requires half the dosage provided by the pill. Such pills are easy to split, and many of the commercially available pill splitters, commonly sold in drug stores, are specifically designed for use with such disc-shaped pills.
However, many pills do not provide for such ease of splitting. Furthermore, some manufacturers make pills which appear to be designed to be difficult to split. The Viagra(copyright) pill, for example, has a plan view which is substantially diamond shaped, with rounded points. In side elevation view, the Viagra(copyright) Pill is not rectangular, as are most pills, but has a mid section substantially larger than the ends, and further curved as well. The pill is further coated with a substance which clings to the inner material.
In attempting to split the Viagra(copyright) pill with a knife while holding the pill on a flat surface, it is found first that it is difficult to stabilize the pill because of the relatively small area in contact with the surface. The shape of the Viagra(copyright) pill in reaction to the pressure of the knife causes the pill to tend to slip, or squirt away.
Attempts were made to use a variety of commercially available pill cutters, but one of these were effective with the Viagra(copyright) pill due to its unusual shape, and also because of the coating used.
It has been found that an essential element of a pill cutter effective on the Viagra(copyright) pill is a bed to hold the pill which conforms to the shape of the pill, giving support over substantially the entire lower surface of the pill, and restraining it from slipping in response to cutting pressure exerted by the blade of the splitter.
In addition, it has been found that by concentrating the pressure from the opposite side of the blade, a pill cutter design is provided which only requires a single blade, unlike most commercially available pill cutters. The single blade of the present invention has the added advantage that it is less likely to cause accidents than the handling of a cutter which has an exposed blade on the upper cutting arm.
The present invention is simple to manufacture, and compact, so that it is easy to transport in a pocketbook or pocket. It is simple to use, and reliably cuts the pills for which it is designed, repeatedly making a clean cut in the center of the pill .
It is an object of present invention to provide a pill splitter which will split pills of complex shapes, and which are resistive to splitting by prior art devices.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide such a device which is inexpensive, compact, easy to operate, and safe to use.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the pill splitter includes a bed which conforms to the bottom portion of the pill to be split, maintaining it firmly in position to be split.
In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, the pill splitter has a single blade which engages the pill from below along its length.
In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, a plunger is included which strikes the top portion of the pill along the same line as the blade below.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, the plunger has one or more guides which engage guide slots located on the upper body of the pill splitter.
In accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention, a clearance slot is located on either side of the blade where it engages the pill.
In accordance with a sixth aspect of the invention, the plunger has a substantially planar form, sharpened at the end which engages the top of the pill, so that the forces on the pill are concentrated where the blade engages the pill from below, and directly above the blade, where the plunger engages the pill.
In accordance with a final aspect of the invention, the upper body of the pill splitter is substantially cylindrical in form.